TY - JOUR
T1 - Tailorable liquid metal composite inks
T2 - Formulations, properties, and applications
AU - Zheng, Xueheng
AU - Liang, Shuting
AU - Li, Feng Jiao
AU - Jiang, Dabo
AU - Fu, Jun Heng
AU - Hu, Liang
AU - Lin, Qingshan
AU - Tang, Yuanzhe
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
PY - 2026/6
Y1 - 2026/6
N2 - Advanced liquid metal (LM) inks, which combine the metallic properties with processability, are revolutionizing flexible electronics, bio-integrated devices, and intelligent sensing. However, single-component LM inks often fall short of the demands imposed by modern 3D/4D printing technologies, making the development of high-performance LM composite inks increasingly important. To systematically survey the characteristics and recent progress of emerging LM inks, this review provides a comprehensive overview of their formulation and preparation—spanning ink design, performance tuning, and functional applications. We categorize inks modified with polymers, metals, inorganic materials, and gels, detailing how these composites enhance key properties (e.g, rheology, viscosity: 10−1–103 Pa·s, sheet resistance: 0.01–10 Ω/sq, printability). Furthermore, the application efficiency of composites in stretchable sensors, skin bioelectronics, and reconfigurable circuits is discussed. The structure-activity relationship of over 28 kinds of LM ink formulations was systematically evaluated, and the core challenges along with future research directions in this field are outlined.
AB - Advanced liquid metal (LM) inks, which combine the metallic properties with processability, are revolutionizing flexible electronics, bio-integrated devices, and intelligent sensing. However, single-component LM inks often fall short of the demands imposed by modern 3D/4D printing technologies, making the development of high-performance LM composite inks increasingly important. To systematically survey the characteristics and recent progress of emerging LM inks, this review provides a comprehensive overview of their formulation and preparation—spanning ink design, performance tuning, and functional applications. We categorize inks modified with polymers, metals, inorganic materials, and gels, detailing how these composites enhance key properties (e.g, rheology, viscosity: 10−1–103 Pa·s, sheet resistance: 0.01–10 Ω/sq, printability). Furthermore, the application efficiency of composites in stretchable sensors, skin bioelectronics, and reconfigurable circuits is discussed. The structure-activity relationship of over 28 kinds of LM ink formulations was systematically evaluated, and the core challenges along with future research directions in this field are outlined.
KW - Composite ink
KW - Liquid metal
KW - Overall performance
KW - Polymer materials
KW - Printability
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105039888669
U2 - 10.1016/j.mne.2026.100361
DO - 10.1016/j.mne.2026.100361
M3 - 文献综述
AN - SCOPUS:105039888669
SN - 2590-0072
VL - 31
JO - Micro and Nano Engineering
JF - Micro and Nano Engineering
M1 - 100361
ER -